Cot holding means



Dec. 1, 1942 E. F. COULEl JR I 2 ,6

COT HOLDING MEANS Filed July so, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Qwue/Mom Z'bW/A/004 E02,

Patented Dec. 1, 1942 COT HOLDING MEANS Edwin F. Couleur, Glendale,Calif., assignor to WilliamH. Heise, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application July 30, 1940, Serial No. 348,413

Claims.

This invention relates to cot-holding means and pertains moreparticularly to cot-holding means which may be used in hearses or thelike It is usually somewhat wardly from the wall and are likely tointerfere with the free movement of the cot during the loading andunloading operations. Also, cotholding devices of this type are entirelyunsuited for use in hearses of the side-loading variety.

when it is desirable to use such a hearse for am-' bulance service, asfor bringing a body from a residence to a mortuary.

A particular object of the invention is to pro vide an improvedcot-holding means which is universally adapted for use in ambulances andhearses of either the rear-loading 0r side-loading type.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a particularlyadvantageous cot-holding device as a part of a cot-holding means for usein hearses or the like.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a cot-holdingmeans for use in hearses or the like which may be placed in the hearseon the bed that holds the casket and held there in the same manner as acasket when the hearse is used as an ambulance and may be easilyremovedtherefrom when not in use.

provided with a manually operated lever operable to move it between thetwo positions.

According to a preferred embodiment, this cotholding device comprises'anarm pivotally mounted at its lower-end for movement substantially in avertical plane between a raised and substantially vertical position anda lowered position at one side of the vertical position, and isassociated with an articulated mechanism which is manually operabletomove the arm between the raised and lowered positions and to lock thearm in the raised position. All parts of the articulated mechanism andof the device including the arm are positioned in non-interferingrelation to the cot when the arm isin the loweredposit-ion.

Myinvention will be more particularly described in connection withtheaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my cot-holding means'positioned on thecasket bed of a hearse and in engagement with a typical cot, certainparts of the cot and of the cot-holding means being-broken away forclarity;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 1 with theupper portions of the cot broken away for clarity;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of one of the cot-holding devicesillustrated in Fig. 1, with certain portions broken away;

Fig. 4 is a partly sectional end elevation there of, taken along line4-4 in Fig.3;

Fig. 5 is another elevational detail, taken along line 5 5 in Fig. 3;and

Fig. 6 is a view corresponding in general to the view of Fig. 1 andillustrating a modified form or" cot-holding means utilizing a fixedcot-holding device.

Referring to Figs. 1-5 and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, aportable cot such as used in am- Further objects and advantages of myinven- 4o balances or the like is shown as comprising a bed tion willeither be specifically brought out in the ensuing description or will beapparent therefrom.

The cot-holding means of this invention may comprise a pair ofcot-engaging devices adapted to be mounted on a horizontally extendingbase member in horizontally spaced relation to each other and providedrespectively with cot gripping members to engage the opposite ends ofthe cot to clamp the same therebetween. I At least one of thesecot-engaging devices is movable between one position to clampinglyengage the cot and another position out of engagement with the cot, thiscot-engaging device being provided with means holding it in the oneposition upon moveportion I for supporting a body which is carried by asuitable framework 2, all usually of tubular members and mounted onswiveled casters 3 so that'it may be rolled to any desired'position withat positions above the casters 3 so that any object which is narrowenough in a transverse diment-thereof to the one position and also beingmotion for the casters 3 to straddle and, when so straddled is below thelevel of the frame members, may be said to be mounted in non-interferingrelation to the frame members.

The cot-holding means is shown as comprising two cot-engaging devices 8and 9 mounted on a horizontally extending base member ID in horizontallyspaced relation to each other for engagement with opposite ends of thecot to clamp the sametherebetween. With the cot-holding meansillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the cot-engaging devices 8 and 9 areidentical, and the ensuing detailed description of the cot-engagingdevice 8 will also apply to the cot-engaging device 9.

Still referring to Figs. 1-5 but with particular emphasis on Figs. 3-5,the cot-holding device 8 is shown as comprising an arm I I pivotallymounted at its lower end as at I2 for movement about a substantiallyhorizontally extending axis between a raised substantially verticalposition such as shown in Figs. 1-5 and a lowered position at one sideof the vertical position as shown in dot-dash lines at 8a in Fig. 1. Thearm is provided at its upper end with a recessed cotgripping member I3which is adapted to engage recess is preferably provided with a liningI5 of resilient material such as rubber, for reasons which will appearobvious as the description proceeds. The member I3 is also provided witha flange I6 which extends inwardly about the recess;

I4 to hold the member I5 in place. Due to its resilient nature, themember I5 may be sprung into position in the recess I4 in back of theflange I6.

In order to provide for the engagement of cots 4o made by differentmanufacturers and to accommodate for different mounting conditions, themember I3 is preferably mounted for vertical movement on the arm II. Themember II may be provided with a vertically extending slot IT toaccommodate a mounting stud I8 carried by the member I3. By looseningthe stud I8, member I3 may be moved to any desired vertical position andheld there when the stud is tightened. The member I3 is provided withvertically extending guide flanges I8a which embrace the edges of thearm II and prevent rotation of the member I3 about the axis of stud I8.

The arm II is movable between its lowered position and its substantiallyvertical position by means of an articulated mechanism which ispivotally associated with the arm and manually operable to move the armbetween said positions and to lock the arm in the raised position. Allparts of this mechanism and the arm, including the cot-gripping memberI3, are positioned in non-interfering relation to the cot when the armis in the lowered position, so that the cot may be rolled over thedevice 8 and along the member ID without interference from any part ofthis member.

This articulated mechanism is shown as comprising a lever I9 pivotallymounted as at 20 at a position below the level of the gripping member I3when the arm is in the raised position and at a position on the side ofthe member 8 toward which said member moves when it is lowered. A link2I is provided which is pivotally connected to the lever and to the armat 22 and 23 respectively. The pivotal connection 22 is shown as locatedat an intermediate position between 76 pivot 20 and the outer end of thelever I9, while the pivotal connection 23 is located a substantialdistance above pivot I2 along the arm I I and preferably somewhat belowthe cot-gripping member I3. I

The link, lever, and arm are so arranged that the pivotal connection ofthe link to the lever is in dead-center position between the pivotalmounting of the lever and the pivotal connection of the link to the armwhen the arm is substantially in the raised position as shown in Fig. 3.This dead-center condition is attained when the centers of the pivots20, 22 and 23 fall on the same straight line.

The lever I9 is pivotally movable downwardly toward the arm I I pastsuch dead-center position and means is provided for limiting suchdownward movement, such as a hook-shaped stop 24 projecting upwardlyfrom the outer end of the lever I9 and laterally over the link 2I forengagement therewith in order to limit the movement of the lever pastdead-center position and thus lock the arm II substantially in itsraised position.

The lever I9 is pivotally movable in the reverse direction (in acounter-clockwise direction as viewed inFig. 3) to a position in whichthe arm II is in its lowered position and the mechanism is wholly belowthe level of the frame members of the cot, as shown in'dot-dash lines at8a in Fig. 1. The lever I9 is provided with suitable handle means sothat it may be manually moved between the above-described positions. Forexample, the outer end portion of this lever may be provided with alaterally projecting handle portion 25.

When pivots 20, 22, and 23 are in their deadcenter position as abovedescribed, the arm II and the cot-gripping member I3 are in their mostforward positions. Dowward movement of the handle 25 to move the pivot22 past dead-center and to bring the stop 24 in looking engagement withthe link 2I causes the arm II and the cotgripping member I3 to move veryslightly in a direction away from the frame member 4 and toward thepivot 20. For the cot to be held firmly between the members 8 and 9requires a certain. amount of resilient deformation of the cot-grippingmeans and/or the cot frame. Usually the frame members are sufiicientlyresilient so that they may be engaged by the gripping member I3 at aposition outward of the locked position of this member and sprunginwardly to the position corresponding to the deadcenter position of thepivot 22 and will continue I to exert a force outwardly against thecot-gripping member I3 when this member has been moved back to aposition corresponding to the locked position of the articulatedmechanism. If the cot frame members are not sufficiently subject to thiselastic deformation, the resilient lining I5 will allow this movement ofthe member I3 and will maintain the firm engagement with the framemember when the articulated mechanism is in its locked position.

For convenience in mounting the cot-holding devices and for maintainingthe desired alinement of the various pivots in the articulated mechanism, the pivots 20 and I2 are preferably carried on a suitable plate 26which may be secured to the base member I0 in any convenient manner asby means of bolts 27. The above-described cot-holding devices mayv bemounted to extend upwardly from any horizontally extending base membersuch as the floor of an ambulance or a hearse. When my cot-holdingdevices are used in hearses, however, particularly of the type which maybe loaded either from the side or the rear, Iprefer to mount them on asupporting base means, which may be easily inserted or removed from thehearse.

For example, themember It! may comprise a flat member of an areasomewhat greater than the cot, such as a plate or cot board formed ofplywood, light metal or the like, having substantially the same basedimensions as a casket, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The member may thenbe placed in position on a casket bed 28 of a hearse and held inposition thereon in any suitable manner, as by means of pins 29 whichare provided to hold a casket in place.

These pins fit in openings provided in the casket bed and may be removedwhen it is desired to slide the member Ii! on or off of the bed. Thus ahearse may be used as an ambulance by simply placing my cot-holdingmeans in position on the casket bed and by removing the cot-holdingmeans when the hearse is required for other duties. Furthermore, acot-holding means which includes a light base member like'the basemember I0 may be used in emergencies to convert other vehicles forambulance purposes.

Where my cot-holding means is to be used in hearses or' the like inwhich the cot may be rolled into position from either end of thecotholding means, both of the cot-holding devices are preferablyprovided with an articulated mechanism such as illustrated at B and 9 inFigs. 1 and 2, for example. However, when the cotholding means is to beused in vehicles which can be loaded from one end only, or when it isonly desirable to placethe cot in position from one end, it is notnecessary to provide both of the cot-holding devices with articulatedmechanisms. For example, an arrangement such as illustrated in Fig. 6may be used.

Referring thereto, I have shown a cot frame 3| provided with cross framemembers 32 and 33, which are gripped between cot-holding devices 34 and35 respectively. The device 34 may be entirely comparable to the device8 and is movable between its upper or cot-gripping position as shown inFig. 6 and a lower non-interfering position comparable to that taken bythe member 8 and shown in dot-dash lines at 311 in Fig. 1. When thedevice 34 is in this lastmentioned position, the cot may be rolled intoor out of position to be engaged and over the member 34. The device 35may comprise a cotgripping member 36 constructed in the same manner asthe member I3 and supported by a suitable fixed bracket H. The movableand fixed cot-holding devices 34 and 35 are adapted to be mounted inproper horizontally spaced relation upon a horizontally extending basemember, such as the fioor of a hearse or the like, or a cot board orother removable base member as shown at It] in Figs. 1 and 2.

To facilitate the positioning of a cot and the loading and unloadingthereof, the base member such as the member I 0 may be provided with apair of spaced longitudinally extending guide members 38 and 39 whichare curved inwardly toward one another at their ends and are adapted toguide the cot casters to correctly position the cot between thecot-engaging devices as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The guideways 38and 39 are preferably spaced from one another by a distance which issomewhat less than the distance between the casters when they aretrailaxes.

ing as -showni-n Figs. 1 and 2, so that the casters maybe free-tosw-ivel when the cot is located on the base member I0. The-casters trailbehind the axes-about which they-swivel when they are rolled, and it maybe assumed that the cot illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 was rolled intoposition from the right-hand side of the member 10. If the cot is to beremoved from the same side, it will be necessary for thecasters toswivel through degrees in' order to trail their swivel Obviously, myinvention is subject to considerable modification; hence, I do notchoose to be limited to the examples described herein, but rather to thescope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

l. A relatively light -weight cot-holding means adapted to be readilypositioned on and removed from the casket bed of a hearse, comprising: asubstantially fiat base member adapted to receive and supporta cot-andhaving base dimensions which are substantially the same as the basedimensions of a casket; and two cot-engaging devices mounted on andextending upwardly from said base member in horizontally spaced relationto each other for engagement with opposite ends of a cot positionedtherebetween upon said base member,'to clamp said cot in such position,at least one of said cot-engaging devices being movable between oneposition to clampingly engage the cot and another position out ofengagement with the cot, said one cot-engaging device being providedwith means holding it in said one position upon movement thereof to saidone position and with a manually operated lever member operable to moveit between said two positions.

2. A relatively light-weight cot-holding means adapted to be readilypositioned on and removed from the casket bed of a hearse, comprising: asubstantially fiat base member adapted to receive and support a cot andhaving base dimensions which are substantially the same as the basedimensions of a casket; two cot-engaging devices mounted on andextending upwardly from said base member in horizontally spaced relationto each other for engagement with opposite ends of a cot positionedtherebetween upon said base member, to clamp said cot in such position,at least one of said cot-engaging devices being movable between oneposition to clampingly engage the cot and another position out ofengagement with the cot, said one cot-engaging device being providedwith means holding it in said one position upon movement thereof to saidone position and with a manually operated lever member operable to moveit between said two positions; and a pair of longitudinally extendinglaterally spaced guide members secured to the base member for guidingthe cot in its travel on the base member.

3.. A relatively light-weight cot-holding means adapted to be readilypositioned on and removed from the casket bed of a hearse, comprising: a

substantially fiat base member adapted to receive and support a cot andhaving base dimensions which are substantially the same as the basedimensions of a casket; and two upwardly extending cot-engaging devicesmounted on said base of said cot-engaging devices beingmovable betweenone position in which its gripping member is in such engagement andanother position in which its gripping member is removed from suchengagement, said one cot-engaging device being provided with meansholding it in said one position upon movement thereof to said oneposition and with a manually operated lever member; operable to move itbetween said two positions.

4. A relatively light-weight cot-holding means.

adapted to be readily positioned on and removed from the load-holdingbedof a hearse or the like, comprising: a substantially fiat base memberhaving base dimensionsadapting it for positionto each other forengagement with opposite end of a cot positioned 'therebetween 'uponsaid base member, to clamp said cot in such position, at least one ofsaid cot-engaging devices being movable between one position toclampingly engage the cot and another position out of engagement withthe cot, said one cot-engaging device being provided with means holdingit in said one position upon movement thereof to said one position andwith a manually operated lever member operable to move it between saidtwo positions.

5. A relatively light-weight cot-holding means adapted to be readilypositioned on and removed from the load-holding bed of a hearse or thelike, comprising: a substantially flat base member having basedimensions adapting it for positioning on and removal from theload-carrying bed of the hearse or the like and also adapting it toreceive and support a cot; two cot-engaging devices mounted on andextending upwardly from said base member in horizontally spaced relationto each other for engagement with opposite ends of a cot positionedtherebetween upon said base member, to clamp said cot in such position,at least one of said cot-engaging devices being movable between oneposition to clampingly engage the cot and another position out ofengagement with the cot, said one cot-engaging device being providedwith meansholding it in said one position upon movement thereof to saidone position and with a manually operated lever member operable to moveit between said two positions; and a pair of longitudinally extendinglaterally spaced guide members secured to the base member for guidingthe cot in its travel on the base member.

EDWIN F. COULEUR.

